Aloha M,
Quite interesting example but would Steiny (or Yamy) go for something like that?
Dunno. Food for thought for sure.
{‘-’}
Linux is an OS that Is the least popular out of the 3 for both Consumers AND Developers over-all.
Not only that but Steinberg, their Partners and 3rd Party Developers would all need to adjust tremendously
just to support the move.
This would be the least of it so not sure if they would consider it of enough worth.
Agreed, but maybe not as much as one might expect, given modern software development techniques. Another flagship Steinberg product (WaveLab) was recently ported to OSX by means of a re-write using a cross-platform library, but Cubase is already cross-platform and so should be even easier to port, so let’s not presume!
Well first off if i’m not mistaken Linux is used alot in the movie world of sound engineering.
(rumor has it Warner Bros. has 1 of the biggest Linux studios known to men) it’s a rumor though I actually enver got this verified.
Also the reason not to many people are on Linux is because the companies force them to use either Windows Or Mac when in reality Linux is the better OS when it comes to capabilities.
Last time I checked any decent producer living in 2014 wants any or all of the following
- The best available quality at the lowest cost.
- The lowest latency without having to go analogue
- The highest mobility without losing stability
Did you know that with JACK running natively (being created for) on linux, latency times as low as 1.5ms have been achieved?
You should take a look at LMMS (Linux Multimedia Studio) it’s a free distribution which you can download and then run of a CD/DVD or USB (Live). Go ahead and take a look f-around a bit then imagine this could be Cubase.
It’s pretty awesome when you think of the posibilities.
Now for my last point. When it comes to developers, there is way more developers for Linux than there is for either Windows or Mac.
You saying there is not, is like saying Apple has more developers than Android. It’s and open source platform… There’s developers all around the world waiting to get there hands on new projects.
Let’s say steiny would be launching a contest of somekind. For example a lifetime of free upgrades for the development team who ports Cubase to Linux. There you have your team of developers. There is so many creative (cost efficient) ways to accomplish cross-platform support to Linux.
And believe it or not, we would all benefit from this. It would mean another (huge) group of people using cubase that will be able to give feedback and develop the product. Cause let’s be honest the amount of people with programming knowledge on Linux is a bit higher than the average Windows/Mac user 
Cheers mate.
I would be keenly interested in a powerful Steinberg, turn-key, software/hardware package optimized to run on Linux … a Steinberg/Yamaha computer to run Steinberg applications under Linux (or even better, Steinux OS optimized for Cubase/Nuendo) with rock-solid stability and no hardware incompatibility issues. Yes, I would. 
Yeah but what was all the waiting for 64 bit plugins for? If Linux becomes available we have to wait maybee for 5 or 6 years before all the third party plugs are available, soundcard drivers? Developing 3 platforms? Oh my I suddenly got a pain in my head thinking it over!
For better or worse, I cannot see that happening unfortunately since there are too many flavors of Linux and the development is not organised like Microsoft or Apple.
The markt share argument is just a statistical thing. If you look at it at a bigger scale then Linux is actually market leader by far on PCs. PC as in Personal Computer = multi purpose computers for personal use. This includes Android devices, Chromebooks and so on compared against Windows , iOS and OSX devices.
Even if you just count sales for desktop devices and notebooks alone then the statistics will be massively skewed. No Linux user buys a new PC with pre-installed Linux. You almost always get a Windows license with a new computer, even if you don’t use it at all. But it will make a point in the statistics while the downloaded Linux ISO will not. I have several unused Windows licenses on my shelf because the target computers were all running Linux in the end.
Internet access logs are a bad source of market share statistics too. Most Linux users will have to pretend to be on Windows (with user agent switchers) because they will only see crippled internet sites when they use their real identity (eg Amazon, Ebay and several other big players). And another thing to keep in mind: Why should a Linux user regularly visit sites that deal with Windows and Mac software only (eg http://www.steinberg.net)? So statistics from these sites won’t mean a thing. If you check the statistics of Debian or Ubuntu then they will look totally different.
Apple’s popularity helped Linux a lot in this regard as most vendors now try to create class compliant devices for OSX and especially iOS. These work perfectly fine under Linux too, including extreme low latency out of the box. And many proprietary devices just work without even having to install drivers like on Windows. EG the Steinberg CC121 is just plug and play under Linux (IIRC works with Bitwig, Renoise and REAPER). But you are right. The low end is covered very well and the high end too (with RME and others). In lacks in the middle where many devices need proprietary drivers but the companies don’t have the resources to support Linux (although it is not too different to Apple’s Unix version in this regard).
However, missing VST plugins are a big problem. Not much because of missing development resources. Many of the popular Plugin frameworks already support Linux-VSTs. So it would be pretty easy for developers to port plugins from other platforms to Linux.
The main problem for VST on Linux is Steinberg’s absurd licensing system for the VST SDK. You have to register as a developer and sign a NDA before you are allowed to access it and it is strictly forbidden to redistribute the SDK files to other people. This makes it virtually impossible for the distribution maintainers to automatically build and include VST enabled software in the mainstream distributions. As a result this licensing scheme means that every single user has to register as a developer at Steinberg, download the SDK, compile the DAW from scratch, manually install the DAW and so on. Every single user, one by one. It is possible but very cumbersome. No wonder there is no market for VST plugins on Linux if the open source DAWs are not allowed to use them out of the box.
Same goes for ASIO. It would be pretty easy to write an ASIO wrapper for alsa to simplify porting but the license system is even more restrictive than VST.
- 100000000
I think that Steinberg should consider this hint.
Linux has no ecosystem for audio pro’s. Linux is fun if you are a developer or when you where playing with OS/2 during childhood because you hated windows so much.
When you make money with music you want a commercial OS, backed by a bunch of vendors. Not losing time with compiling OS’s and tinkering around with settings because NOTHING works straightforward.
Even something simple like updating a driver is a complete pain under Linux
Eh …no. 
Expert Resource will always be an issue - look at this forum for example, no matter what new functions are conceived - there are always complaints and rants. Would any company willingly open themselves up for a new branch of moaning ninnies?
Android = Linux (close enough anyways) and yet SB have still to complete the work already started on IOS on the Android platform.
My 2c - that should be the next platform of choice, as the installed base is probably 1000x larger than Linux PC users. Hopefully with version 5.0 (Lollipop) and improved audio latency performance, the door is wide open for Steinberg/Yamaha to develop all manner of audio apps … Korg is killing it on the IOS platform!
If my memory serves me correct, this is standard industry practice for the primary developers like AVID as well.
http://www.avid.com/US/partners/audio-plugin-dev-program
Not for nothing, but anyone who is installing Linux on a home PC is probably buying components and building the PC themselves. So the “you get a Windows license but don’t use it” argument is hogwash. Linux is hardly the market leader in terms of actively used OS licenses, and I challenge you to provide any sort of statistics to back up that statement since you’re claiming that the reams of articles and research that has said over the years how Windows is the leader is wrong.
OSX is built on a varient of Linux, true, but the big difference is in the Window Manager, which differs greatly depending on which flavor of *nix you use. And, let’s not kid ourselves: if Steiny supported Linux there would be some geek who hasn’t seen daylight in 10 years that wants it supported on Minix or HP-UX or, gawd help us, Ultrix.
Most importantly, the cost of development and support increases for Steinberg so any potential cost savings by avoiding the OS license will be offset by this increase, which you know will be passed to consumers. And, not only that, but you’ll also piss off the Windows and OSX users who will feel slighted because they have to foot the bill for the 5 people that want to run Cubase on Linux.
It never ceases to amaze me the volume of statements that are made about alleged Linux “support problems” without there being any evidence whatsoever – either way.
Not true. OSX is a Unix variant, Linux is a Unix clone.
I want Cubase for IRIX! NOW! 
I believe the issue is more about a new branch of support being required. It’s still a OS - so all the usual issues, drivers, displays (GUI) issues, stability under specific use, etc will become a factor sooner or later.
My personnel foray into Linux is not positive - it works…sort of. For most times it was like being in foreign country and all I wanted was a Big Mac with extra cheese, and instead was offered deep sea lobster with lamb chop sides…
These are much the same issues that confronted Steinberg when they decided to support iOS and Android. One of the advantages Linux offers is the potential to provide a complete distribution with the Cubase application pre-installed – you provide the USB eLicenser and off you go. Imagine a composite USB device that would combine (bootable) storage, audio interface and an eLicenser port, effectively turning any modern computer into a dedicated DAW.
Already done… it’s called an iPad 
… now I’d like that to be my Samsung Tablet (8 core + 3 Gb + 64GB FDD)…
… oh yes eLicenser is not a plus… please… that thing must be dropped, and at least with the Tablet apps there’s no requirement or mention 
iPAD = dongle 
